10 more banks penalized in forex scam

The Reserve Bank of India has levied penalties on 13 banks in total, it said in a statement. Earlier, the central bank had said Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and HDFC Bank have been penalized for their involvement in a foreign exchange scam that happened in October 2015. Now 10 more banks are added to this list. RBI said in a statement posted on its website that this action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank and its customers. The 10 banks not notified are Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Corporation Bank, IndusInd Bank, RBL Bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, Syndicate Bank and UCO Bank. The penalties range between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore, the statement said. It also mentioned that eight other banks – Axis Bank, Federal Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Standard Chartered Bank, State Bank of India and Union Bank of India – have been advised to put in place appropriate measures and review them from time to time to ensure strict compliance of KYC requirements and FEMA provisions on an ongoing basis. RBI had carried out a scrutiny of the advance import remittances in 21 banks in October and November after it had been tipped off about some irregularities by a public sector bank